


don't belong to no city

by ThisJoyAndI



Category: Historical RPF, The Tudors (TV)
Genre: Battle of Flodden, F/M, Stillbirth
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-26
Updated: 2017-08-26
Packaged: 2018-12-19 23:18:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,319
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11908287
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThisJoyAndI/pseuds/ThisJoyAndI
Summary: (don't belong to no man)Battles do not only take place on the battlefield, as a daughter of Isabella rightfully knows. 'A son and triumph over the Scottish. Those are the two gifts she shall present her husband with.'





	don't belong to no city

Katherine’s belly has begun to swell great with child for the third time when the nobles inform her that the Scottish may pose a serious threat. With Henry away fighting in France, she has been left to rule England in her husband’s stead, and such an honour includes dealing with these foolish but determined Scots. To rule upon her own merit is a duty she has been prepared to undertake her entire life, a happy outcome of being a daughter of Isabella, but it is a duty she never thought would ever occur, not in England, not in a country which has proven to be so very different from Spain. This alliance with England, an alliance she had known since childhood could only be secured by her marriage, meant she would never experience the exhilaration her mother surely felt, ruling as a queen in her own right, addressing her troops before battle, making decisions by herself and not looking to her husband for agreeance, for support, for money.

In England, she will only ever be considered as Henry’s wife, his Spanish queen and mother of his heirs, but her husband the King is not here, and so it is upon his wife that the responsibility of squashing the Scottish threat falls.

Henry believes her to be more than capable of such a task, and Katherine shall not prove such belief false. She will not fail him, not in this, not in anything. She vows to succeed, a hand caressing her swollen belly, for surely _this_ time the child growing inside her shall survive. Surely God will not be so cruel as to grieve her in such a way, not after so much heartbreak. She has already lost so much, losses which still pain her when she thinks upon them. Her brother, his daughter. Her sister, Arthur, the husband who had perhaps been too young to marry, a daughter, pale and unmoving, a son, little Henry, gone as quickly as he came. Her mother too, dying so far away from her, Katherine’s grief unable to be assuaged by the presence of her family.

Now there is this babe, growing and moving in her swollen belly almost constantly, as if it wishes to reassure her that it is still here, that it isn’t going anywhere. Katherine believes that by the time Henry returns from France she will not have only defeated the Scottish, but she shall also have a prince to present him with, an heir for their dynasty, a son who shall live. Providing an heir is the foremost duty of any queen, and by the end of the year she shall have fulfilled this task, will have forever linked England and Spain together, an unbreakable bond that will see her son rule one country and, with the help of his cousins on the continent, conquer the rest.

A son and triumph over the Scottish. Those are the two gifts she shall present her husband with, when Henry returns from France with his very own triumph. They have only been wed for four years, but those years have been some of the happiest of her life, certainly some of the happiest she has experienced in England, Henry’s adoration a salve to her aching heart. Her husband is a sight to behold, tall and lean and still in the flush of his youth, and with time and proper guidance she knows he shall become a great king.

But all kings, great or not, need heirs to follow them on the throne, and despite the swell of her belly, Katherine cannot help but feel guilty when she dwells upon her previous attempts. Henry never says anything, for he wept just as hard as she when they were told of little Harry’s death, but the survival of the child growing in her belly would warm his heart just as much as it would hers. And this babe will survive, if her sheer determination to see it thrive could ensure such a thing.

Despite the Scottish threat, she will not overly exert herself. Though she does ride north and address the men as her duties require her to, she remains behind when Howard leads them into battle, even though she is certain the battlefield would be a splendid sight, even though she is sure her mother would approve of her leading the men on Henry’s behalf. The child growing inside her is what is most important, and so she remains behind and rests, and tries not to fret about what could happen if the Scots prove undefeatable, with Henry far away in France. She knows Margaret would never allow her husband to harm her, knows that the faithful Englishmen called up to fight will prove more than capable, but Katherine cannot help but worry. Her prayers are devoted equally between praying for the health of her child and the success of the battle, and she hopes both shall be answered.

She is visibly with child when news comes of their success at Flodden, Katherine struggling to rise to her feet after morning prayer is concluded.  Her belly is firm, and the baby constantly shifts inside her, but then hadn’t the others been the exact same way, so alive, so full of life… until the moment they were not. She never thought, not the day when she wed Henry, not the first few times he took her to bed, that she would struggle so to birth him an heir. Their marriage was meant to be a new beginning, the creation of a new England, with her children forever uniting England with Spain. Only a child can ensure the creation of an unbreakable connection between the country of her birth and the country she is queen of.  

Katherine sends her husband the bloody coat of the Scottish king, triumph coursing alongside the blood in her veins. She would have sent the body too, no matter how decayed it may have become, for it is proof of her triumph, but the reaction of Henry’s advisors to such a suggestion had ensured she had not followed through with such an idea.

Rather, she issues orders for the barely recognisable body to be embalmed, so Henry shall be able to decide what to do with it when he returns. James was not only a fellow monarch but his brother in law, and his death means that Henry’s sister is now a widow. She does feel pity for Margaret, for she knows her marriage to James had grown into something close to love, and Henry’s sister was always kind to her during her early days in England, her presence a comfort after sweet Arthur had been taken by the sweat.

Such kindness had extended beyond that fleeting time, had stretched across the border that separated their two countries, for Margaret and she had remained in close contact, with Margaret’s letters offering her comfort from a woman who knew just as well as Katherine did what it was like to lose a child. But Margaret has only the year before born a son, a child who is now the King of Scotland, with Margaret likely to act as his regent. And there are rumours of her being pregnant once more, her husband’s final gift. If it weren’t for the babe in her belly, Katherine fears she could weep at such an idea – for she wants nothing more than to provide Henry with an heir, yet God has seen fit to deprive her of her utmost desire time and time over.  

This time though, surely. This time she shall fulfil her duty and give England the heir it needs.

A son and triumph over the Scottish. Their forces have already secured one of the two, and now she shall need to make preparations for her own battle.

(But the babe is born sleeping, and not even her warm embrace can wake him). 

**Author's Note:**

> I could yell incomprehensibly about how much I love KoA for the rest of my life, but I won't.


End file.
